pamperedpuppy // luxury lifestyles for dogs

The World in a Dog Ball

Paws down, my favorite Disney character is Pluto. The legendary star's classic films are all absolute must-sees, of course, but highlights from his career include Plutopia, T-Bone for Two, Canine Casanova, Bone Trouble and Pluto and the Armadillo. It was therefore a wretched barking shock to learn on August 24, 2006 that a bunch of grumpy scientists had decided that Pluto doesn't count as a planet any longer. The grumps changed its official identity to dwarf 134340. How glamorous. In my dog-loving opinion, if any of the planets was fishy, it was Neptune.

But there is a consolation for the loss. Planet Dog (www.planetdog.com), a totally K-9-approved company in Portland, Maine, takes us out of this world with a universe of doggy fun. It's an embarrassment of tail thumping riches as you try to decide between squeak and suck or chew and fetch toys. From a fleece-lined handle on an environmentally-sound hemp leash, to meat jerky treats made from livestock that grazed on a natural grass diet in New Zealand and a Squeaky Baby Blanket Buddy puppy toy, Planet Dog helps us all show those grumpy scientists what they can do with their reclassification of Pluto.

Planet Dog's genesis stretches back to its incorporation in 1997. Founder and Owner Alex Fisher was inspired to start the company by his Chocolate Lab Seeger. According to accounts from trustworthy sources, Seeger was a very kind and gentle dog; loved by all. The poster boy for Planet Dog's Squeaky toys, he went to the celestial dog house in 2006. A romping White Labrador, Arlo, now fills Alex's life – and not coincidentally, he fills the Planet Dog offices with life a-plenty with his antics. If you decide to go to work for the company, don't leave your foie gras pâté atop your desk unguarded at lunch because Arlo will definitely think it is for him, and slurp it down. That tinkling in the office's agility tube is likely Arlo manifesting a little joie de vivre. And we understand that along with his playmate Fletcher, who is the Product Development Manager's dog, a frolicking Arlo put the inevitable first dent in the wall of Planet Dog's new offices.

A milestone in company history was reached in 1999 with the establishment of a philanthropic arm. That evolved to eventually become, in 2007, the Planet Dog Foundation. 2002 meanwhile saw the launch of Planet Dog's retail website as well as the opening of The Doghouse, a distribution center. The flagship store in Portland threw open its gates in November, 2004; shortly thereafter in 2005, the wholesale website was launched. Like the universe, Planet Dog is in constant expansion.

Planet Dog is woof woof famous for its Orbee Tuff toys. The material from which these toys are made is so durable that people have accidentally run over Orbee Tuff stuff with their John Deere sit-down lawnmowers and yet, the toys were undamaged. That most certainly did not happen because the lawnmowers had dull blades, let me tell you. Planet Dog's Katherine Frost says that within the Orbee Tuff line, the best sellers are the Orbee Ball, the Soccer Ball, the Bone and the Strawberry.

Planet Dog gives scientists a run for their money, (as well they might after the Pluto debacle), with their explanation of how to select the right Orbee Tuff toy. Considerations include the mechanics of a dog's jaw, the physics of size and shape, and your dog's chewing habits. That Orbee-Tuff strawberry, which gets four out of five chompers on the official Chew-o-Meter, reflects state-of-the-art nutritional science by delivering, as per company information, 100% of your dog's daily requirements of rompoflavin, chompohydrates, vitamin WAG and dietary fun.

Hovering just over the planetary horizon is the launch of Old Soul, a line of products specially-designed for K-9 seniors. Cosmos, too, is another soon-to-be-launched Planet Dog line. It will be aimed at really big dogs. We're talking Danes, Irish Wolfhounds and St.-You-Know-Whos.

Peek at the company's site, and you'll see a Zoom commercial with a model looking mighty foxy in hemp collars. That actress, a Chocolate Lab, Chauncy, has Planet Dog employee Steph as her main human companion. Word is that Chauncy likes to eat apple cores.

The Planet Dog signature toy, the original Orbee, is ocean blue with the continents depicted in green on its surface. Saving the world for dogs is foremost on the company's list of priorities, and one can only admire them for that. As stated on its site, "The mission of the Planet Dog Foundation is to promote and celebrate programs in which dogs serve and support their best friends." The Planet Dog Foundation seeks out organizations worthy of encouragement and support and then awards them money grants. Wherever dogs are being trained to help people, PDF would like to encourage the people training the dogs. Therapy dogs, bomb-sniffers, police dogs and many other types of working dogs have been beneficiaries of the Foundation's generosity.

Originally, the Foundation's grants were focused on New England-based recipients, but the company has now successfully expanded its philanthropic programs nationwide. To give but a few examples; in fall, 2007, Assistance Dogs of the West in Santa Fe, New Mexico received $10,000, The Chenny Troupe in Chicago, Illinois also received $10,000 and NEADS – Dogs for Deaf and Disabled Americans in West Boylston, Massachusetts received $10,000. The Foundation's web pages, actually, are a great resource for learning about all the different types of dog-related, help-to-humans organizations out there.

Like the commercial branch of Planet Dog, the Foundation is in continuous expansion. They are, (no pun intended) embarking on a Public Service Announcement in collaboration with The Humane Society of The United States. Adopt, as the project is called, will be all about recognizing and encouraging organizations working to increase the number of dogs adopted each year. Three very loud bow wow toasts to the success of the Adopt announcements.

Once a body has adopted a dog, though, a dog has to play. Among Planet Dog's fabulous offerings in the Slobber Wick line is an athlete's delight; four soft, squeaky, suckable SPORT balls sold in a set within a coach's mesh bag. There's a football, a baseball, a soccer ball, and, for fans of André Agapinscher and Serena and Vanessa Whippet, a tennis ball. For going out in the fields to play with those toys, you might consider Planet Dog T's printed with either "Got Woof?," "Who's Your Doggie?" or "You had me at woof." Tempering all this jock business, the Ts are available in pink. Planet Dog's motto is "Think globally. Act doggedly." Indeed. I'm going to chew on an Orbee-Tuff globe ball right now.